middleofsomewhere | The Will to Fight: Conclusion

The battles rage loud and ferocious at the gates of the city and off in the ruined wastelands of Erda, and on the walls a struggle of a different kind occurs. The team who stayed behind at the towers are small but determined as they move stoically across the walls to right the stones that have become misaligned, even as their friends battle not too far away.

The city begins to hum. It's a quiet hum, not loud enough to be heard out where the others are fighting but it vibrates even through stone. The recovering monks assure them that it is done, the wards are back up and no demon will be able to enter the city.

Eventually the battle is won, all three battles. The demons fought back and killed, a major blow to their gate system that will keep them back for hopefully a long time. Those waiting in the caverns return to the city and by the time they get there the illusions are gone. Everyone can see the world for what it really is.

But despite the ruins of their world the people are relieved, the adrenaline of the fight coursing through their veins and the mood is one of hope. They will build again, their people will survive.

All Voidtreckers please return to the Voidtrecker Express. Departure will be in a few hours

It has landed not too far from the city, cloaked to make it unnoticeable to the citizens, for all the good that does. No one has been particularly subtle this last week. People can begin regrouping, packing up the camp and getting any wounded not already healed to the train.

However roughly half an hour later another message appears on their SCA.

Passenger Persephone has requested we remain on system System #86525656412355 for an additional day to further assist the people of Erda. The Voidtrecker Express will depart on the morning of Day Fifteen of the month of Kazoo.

The train remains where it is, so the voidtreckers can use its facilities. There is definitely a lot that can be done to assist those of this world and the citizens will welcome any helping hands.

After an extra day they finally depart, returning to the void once more.

(OOC Note: Once the wards are up any characters who are demonic in nature will not be able to enter the city either!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Of course Zagreus would cause a great sense of alarm with his flaming feet if he tried to walk into the city. So he doesn't even try, and does his best to stay out of sight until the coast is clear. By that point, Zagreus notices a tent that has popped up, and he makes his way in.

"Can I join you? I've got a few snacks left," he says while holding up his backpack, noticeably emptier than it was at the start of the mission. He looks like he's been through hell, because he has, but he seems to be in pretty chipper spirits all things considered.

Zagreus makes sure to shuffle some comfy blankets out of the way as he sits cross-legged directly on the bare ground, to prevent burning anything. Hopefully Kumoko will let him stay.

Her initial response would probably be something like, hell no, get your terrifying feet away from my vulnerable house... except for two things.

First thing! She's not some neophyte baby spider any more, of course she's reinforced this structure with fire resistance. Second! He definitely carried her that one time instead of, say, kicking her, which would have been the more rational response to seeing a small lesser taratect dive out of a train cabin. It'd be kinda rude to just kick him out after that. Also, she's still a big fan of his character design. You know, generally.

... Third thing! Her mouth is full, so she can't say anything anyway. She gives him a double thumbs-up instead.

He's keeping his feet away from flammable things, he promises!

Zagreus gives her a smile and settles into the tent's comforting darkness, unzipping his bag and unending it to remove all the snacks. He has a couple standard rations left, a whole damn tomato, a few cookies in an airtight bag, and one power bar. Y'know, for power!

He grabs the first one he can reach, which is the tomato, and he bites into it like an apple. As he eats it, his various cuts and scrapes and bruises just starts healing themselves. "I don't know if I ever introduced myself. I'm Zagreus, by the way. You're the spider from before, right?"

She watches the healing process for just a little too long. Not from how he eats it - hey, can she criticise? Has she ever eaten a whole tomato before? Hell no! Looks fine to her! - but out of faint jealousy. Ahhhh, she remembers when she could do that...

Well, it's fine. She's got better things now, like speech, and video games.

"Yep. Thanks for looking after baby me that time!"

"Oh! You can talk."

I mean he should have expected it, really. Kumoko has a humanoid mouth and everything now.

"It's no trouble, I figured it might be rough to have trouble communicating with others. Especially when mortals might find you frightening. I wasn't even going to try entering the city, what with my feet being constantly on fire and all. I've been called Hellspawn before, it's not a stretch to think the inhabitants of the city would think the same."

Gods, why does he have to think about Theseus right now?

"Hellspawn, eh..." She can see it, but... People sure like calling other people 'spawn', huh? It's true in her case, 'mother' being a huge, evil spider that would eat them in a second, but it's not like they know that.

"That sucks. Though I don't think these guys really know what hell is, y'know? You'd probably just get, er, Hotstep. Flamesole..."

Zagreus lets out a chuckle. "Firewalker, Sparkstrider, Blazefoot maybe?" He seems to have been distracted by whatever he was thinking about before, but now he's back to casual quips and eating his tomato. Not all of his wounds are gone, but some are healed, and that's the important thing.

"So what's your name? Are you one of Arachne's daughters?"

"Arachne's my species, so... kinda." With a gesture oft-repeated, she flourishes her ticket on its orange lanyard. Unnamed Spider, it reads.

"People call me what they want. If you can't think of anything, Kumoko is fine, since I'm a spider."

Ms. Spider, seems like the best name, right? Easy to remember. She used to prefer Arma, but... feels kinda weird to use that, with so few elves left. Probably gonna retire that one for a bit. The others are all from specific people, she doesn't prefer any over the others. So. Whatever! Moving on! "If people call you Hellspawn, does that mean you're the kid of an underworld god?"

Zagreus squints at the lanyard. Well that's rude, Voidtrecker Express. "The Train could have at least let you pick something out for yourself."

The prince considers for a moment. "Is Kumoko what you want to be called? I'd be happy to call you something else, if you like it better." And then, he answers with a surprised raise of his brows, "Yes, actually, you got it in one. The Underworld God. Hades, Lord of the Dead, ever heard of him?"

"Kumoko is fine." She really doesn't mind! Please, decide for her. Call her whatever. And, automatically, "Sure, I know Hades."

Had a skill named after him, in fact! Not that she ever used it. Manifest Hades. Wonder if she could recreate it here? Would it manifest the god or the place? Maybe some stupid fantasy equivalent, given the source of the skill. She really should have checked while she had the chance.

... Anyway! "Er, heard of him, anyway." So wait, there's definitely a Persephone on board. Awkward.

"Kumoko it is, then, until you tell me otherwise!" Zagreus nods affirmatively, grasping the bag of cookies and holding them out to her. "Here, I promised I'd share. Have at them."

He lets out a small chuckle to himself, mostly. "Lots of people have heard of him - everybody dies eventually, right, so obviously the Lord of the Underworld would have some sort of name recognition." He finishes off the last of the tomato in two bites, and with his mouth still partially full, continues, "For a while I thought I was the son of Nyx, the Goddess of Night. She practically raised me anyway, so it's about the same."

The Will to Fight: Conclusion

Because fire feet are scawy :c

:c adopts

O thank

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject